


a shadow in the cedar room

by queerofcups



Series: fic advent 2017 [7]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Italy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-11 23:49:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12946716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queerofcups/pseuds/queerofcups
Summary: Sometimes, when he’s with Dan, Phil feels like a stranger to PJ.





	a shadow in the cedar room

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt that one time in Italy + thin hotel walls.  
> Title is from Dove's The Cedar Room.

PJ’s known Phil for a long time, longer than he’s known anyone else in their little quartet. Phil is unerringly dependable, always present and ready to be helpful. PJ likes to think he could set a clock by some of Phil’s reactions, the way he flushes when someone makes a racy joke, the way he comes up with fanciful add ons to PJ’s already out there imaginings. 

He  _ knows _ Phil, and has always been delighted to have him as a friend. 

But sometimes, when he’s with Dan, Phil feels like a stranger. There’s something about Dan that acts like a catalyst for Phil. It’s not just the sex, PJ’s met all of the people that Phil’s liked enough to bother introducing to his friends. There’s something challenging,  _ taunting _ almost about Dan’s nervous energy, the way his mouth runs too fast, the way he seems to be daring Phil to do something, anything.

PJ doesn’t hate it. He’s always thought Phil needed a little loosening up, and Dan’s often there, convincing him to take another drink, make the joke he would have kept to himself.

It’s just a little disorienting sometimes. PJ feels like he doesn't always know  _ this _ Phil, who seems so emboldened by Dan’s presence. Who isn’t as squeamish when it comes to acknowledging that PJ and Chris know he’s not straight. Who nods along when Dan suggests they push their laughably tiny beds together and watches PJ and Chris’s faces for reactions.

It's immature, maybe, to be a little irritated with Dan for that reason. This isn’t primary school, it's not as if they can’t share friends. That’s the pep talk he’s had to give himself when he feels irritation prickling in the back of his neck when Dan insists on sitting next to Phil at every given moment from their flight to Italy to their lunch upon landing.

So he stops grinding his teeth and walks around the villa with them and vlogs a little once they get back to the room and again when they go to dinner and plays  _ nice _ . 

And it's fine, they’re young in a beautiful place on someone else’s dime. His laughter is genuine in his stupid vlog of Chris doing an impression that’s really just weird noises and he catches a little bit of whatever weird mating dance Dan and Phil are doing that involves them literally chasing after each other.

They take turns getting ready for bed and he falls asleep easily enough, not minding the feeling of Chris’s body nestled close or the sounds of Dan and Phil whispering back and forth as he drifts off. 

He minds being in the middle a little bit more when he wakes up again. There’s no way to tell what time it is without moving. The clock is on the other side of Chris. It's dark enough that everyone is still. But he’s been asleep long enough to be hard in his pajamas and sort of wishes he’d opted to keep pants on. 

There’s nothing to really be done about it, he supposes. The bed is too small to think he could get off without bumping into Chris and he’s trapped enough by blankets and bodies that crawling out of bed doesn’t seem worth the trouble. 

He closes his eyes again, sighing and trying to fall back asleep again. He’s nearly there when he realizes that below the noise of the air conditioner and the night sounds of the outdoors there’s a slick, rhythmic noise happening right beside him.

He’s groggy enough that he can’t quite feel scandalized. He’s mostly just vaguely annoyed that Phil would never do something like...whatever he’s doing in the bed next to them if Dan hadn’t dared him to. He sleepily brushes a hand over his cock, trying to remember to tuck this away for when he  _ does _ have privacy to wank, then promptly falls back asleep. 

He doesn’t remember until after they’ve had breakfast and have broken off into little groups: Chris on a walk to figure out what he’s going to make a video about, Dan and Phil to the pool, and PJ to hop in the shower to wash off some of the Italian humidity. 

The whole room is a respectable size but four people makes it feel like close quarters, and PJ can’t help but sigh in relief at a few minutes of privacy. 

He’s tilting his head up to the slightly too warm spray of the shower, thinking about close quarters, when the memory of last night comes back. He tilts his head away from the shower and lets his eyes go wide. 

Dan and Phil were doing  _ something _ in bed right next to him. They were doing something in bed right  _ next _ to him! That’s just not on at all. 

PJ starts muttering to himself, trying to plan out what he’s going to say to them before bed tonight, something about privacy and respect. Nothing homophobic, because he’s certainly not, and if either of them were a girl, he’d be just as annoyed.

He huffs and turns back to showering, trying to remember the details, the dark warmth cocooned in a blanket, the quality and pace of the noise. They could have been kissing, that was totally possible. 

But, PJ shakes his head. Whatever they were doing was too wet, to consistent of a pace. 

As he drags a cloth across his body, he tries to imagine what they were getting up to, who was doing what. He’s constructed a decent image of Dan and Phil tucked close to each other, hands around each other's cock, hidden lube easing the way before he realizes what he’s doing and how hard he’s gotten. 

PJ shakes his head and rinses off, ignoring his erection in favor of toweling off and trying to decide when he’ll bring it up. 

He’s still grumpy when he lays down for a nap and falls asleep still scripting their potential reactions and what he’ll say to each of them. 

**Author's Note:**

> Ubeta'd. The rest of the story should be up this weekend! Come squeal about kickthephan with me at queerofcups.tumblr.com


End file.
